Better Off Ted: "Love Blurts" Review Season 2, Episode 1

When I heard that Better Off Ted would be returning for a second season, I was surprised. Don't get me wrong - it's a great show with a terrific cast and smart, funny writing. It's just that it floated under the radar last season and was subjected to a hard-to-follow split schedule that you'd associate more with a cable shows or something the network wanted to burn off over the summer. Hopefully the critically acclaimed show will get more eyeballs this season because the simple premise ethical employees working for an unethical mega-corporation - is easily relatable to so many people.

Even though Better Off Ted is a show I'd recommend to anyone, I have to admit this season premiere was not their best effort. The cast, including Jay Harrington as Ted Crisp and Portia De Rossi as Veronica Palmer, were hilarious as usual, especially when Veronica decided it was time to go "balls-out crazy" on a poor receptionist. The problem was with the largest character of all: Viridian Dynamics. The cold, heartless beast of a company just didn't seem as cold and heartless in this episode.

The company set up a matchmaking service for single employees, hoping to pair genetically compatible mates so that their offspring would need less health care paid for by the company. If you think about it, it's not an entirely horrible idea. Sure, the faceless corporate behemoth wants to control every facet of its employees lives, but in doing so, they also want healthy children. And therein lies the problem: since when did Viridian Dynamics care about its employees?

Regardless of the entertaining, yet tangled love connections that occurred between the cast (Taye Diggs' cameo as Greg, the bear costume enthusiast, was a wonderful surprise), I still couldn't feel sorry for any of them. Whereas last season, the company put its employees in harm's way multiple times (remember Phil's cryogenic freezing disaster, Linda's mysterious energy patch or Clem's battle with sensors that didn't recognize him?), all that really happened to the pawns this time out was a couple of bad dates.